You don’t catch a cold in the wintertime – colds catch you. Prevention is key to thwarting the winter’s chill and protecting yourself from the decrease in temperatures.
To help you prepare for and stay healthy during the upcoming cold winter months, here are some natural preventive ways to maintain your winter wellness.
Get Enough Vitamin D
Because many people work indoors, Vitamin D levels are already low in the body, even in the warm summertime months. You may get sun exposure during the winter, but it will not be enough to ensure you’re reaching the Vitamin D levels you need – and too much UV exposure causes skin irritations.
So what do you do instead?
Increase your consumption of Vitamin D through supplements or foods rich in the source (we offer Vitamin D supplements in our online store). To get Vitamin D in your meals, cook with the following ingredients:
- Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon
- Foods fortified with vitamin D, like dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, cereals
- Beef liver
- Cheese
- Egg yolks
Keep Yourself Germ-Free
With a suppressed immune system, you are more susceptible to germs and bacteria in the cold winter months. To maintain your health and wellness, make sure you do the following:
- Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough with your elbow or arm. Using your hand only transfers the germs to places you touch, like food and regularly used objects (e.g., doorknobs, steering wheels, keyboards, etc.). It’s better to use parts of your body that do not regular contact your nose or mouth.
- Wash your hands. Germs continue to live on the things you touch, so even if you are germ free, you may contact germs from a few days ago. Make it a habit to wash your hands before eating or every 4 hours.
- Drink plenty of fluids. It’s important to stay hydrated, even in the non-warm winter. Water keeps your internal system functioning properly, so drinking 6-8 glasses a day is something you should do to stay germ free.
Use the Warm Sock Technique
Do you often wake up with a stuffy nose or a congested throat? Your body reacts this way because you’re dormant in your sleep. For a natural way to keep blood circulation flowing, even while you sleep, use the wet warming socks technique.
See this You Tube video for complete instructions on how it works.
Want More Help?
In this post, we barely scratched the surface when it comes to natural ways to keep healthy and well during the winter. For additional best practices, see this article that highlights several products in our online store.
For personalized help, contact us about a consultation. Once we get to you know and your body, we can make recommendations for what would work best for you.
To your health!
Photo Credit: blmiers2
